Senate votes to delay flood insurance hikes

WASHINGTON — The Senate has easily passed a bill to delay premium hikes for years for hundreds of thousands of homeowners who buy flood insurance from the federal government.

Thursday’s sweeping 67-32 vote reflects widespread concern about changes enacted two years ago to shore up the program’s finances. The changes are in many cases producing unexpected, sky-high insurance rates that are unaffordable for many homeowners in flood-prone areas whose insurance has historically been subsidized by the government and other policyholders.

The bill was muscled through the Senate after angry constituents, the real estate and homebuilder lobbies inundated lawmakers with complaints.

Opponents of the bill say it unravels long-sought reforms of the flood insurance program, which has required numerous taxpayer bailouts and owes $24 billion to the Treasury Department as a result.

The bill would delay for up to four years huge premium increases that are supposed to phase in next year and beyond under new and updated government flood maps. It also would allow homeowners to pass below-cost policies on to people who buy their homes. People who have recently bought homes and face sharp, immediate jumps in their premiums would see those increases rolled back.

The measure faces a rockier climb in the GOP-controlled House, where Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, prefer a more modest approach. But allies of delaying the rate hikes demonstrated in a vote last year that they have a working majority in the House.